The Lonely Star
by Juniper Mimosa
Summary: When Alicia Mornington wakes up on a paradise island, she is at first happy. She is surrounded by children who treat her as their mother and respected by people who wouldn't have given her a second glance before. As order begins to disappear, so does the civilized young girl Alicia once was. This takes place during the Lord of the Flies and follows the plot. Please Review.
1. The Island (Sound of the Shell)

_The young boy that had been torn from his sisters arms by tall men with suits. A mother trying to convince the girl it was for the best. The girl that had following the kidnappers. That had remained hidden, dark anger accumulating inside of her. _How dare you take my brother away from me! What are you protecting him from?_ She wanted to yell, but she bided her time. She jumped into the cargo hold of a plane filled with boys at the last moment. Somewhere inside, her brother was alone, without her. After a long ride she had begun to feel the fire and smell that horrible putrid smell. Then the feeling of falling at speeds a human should never fall at. The hatch opened at the perfect moment. The girl had jumped out of the hatch. The falling sensation intensified. The last things she remembered were a flash of blue sky, green trees, and then blackness._

I woke up with a start. That was the worst nightmare I had ever had. I lay breathing heavily. Only after I had convinced myself about eighty times that it was just a dream did I finally look up and pay attention to my surroundings. I almost started screaming.

I was laying on a tangle of leaves and vines and up above me the sky showed through a large hole in the canopy of trees. Surprising myself, I perfectly rationally thought _that must be where I fell through_. That's when I realized that I was probably still sleeping. In that case, this happened to be the most vivid dream I had ever had. I pinched myself and said out loud "Wake up Alicia. You have to make your brother breakfast."

When I didn't wake up I got worried. That's when I realized that this was _not_ a dream and that I certainly was _not_ sleeping. In an instant I jumped up.

"JOSH! JOSHUA ALEXANDER MORNINGTON!" I screamed for a while, and then collapsed upon the ground sobbing. My brother was dead. DEAD! He had perished in the plane crash, like all the others. I was alone. ALONE!

After some time, I pulled myself together and decided to look around, to see if there was a way out from where I was. Surely if I walked along the beach I would end up where the people were, and I could return to England, to my family. I decided to look around first and explore a bit. Maybe that would cause me to forget the pain of losing my brother. What doesn't kill you will make you stronger, my mother used to say. If she were here she would tell me that instead of losing my will to live and mourn Josh's death, I should rejoice and celebrate his happy life. That would be impossible for me but I could try. I got up and began to evaluate my surroundings.

On one side of me was a jungle. Though it was lush, green, and filled with fruit, it seemed to have an ominous feel to it. I could sense a dark presence moving around within. I could even almost imagine I could see it skulking between the trees and among the creepers. A shiver ran down my spine and with a shudder, I turned away towards the beach.

The beach was beautiful. It's silver and gold sand was speckled with pink and shone brightly in the sun, almost blinding me. The shoreline was dotted with shells of the greatest color and variety I had ever seen in my life. The still water was crystal clear, with a tinge of tropical blue. A coral reef stretched far into the ocean, numerous colorful fish, with shimmering scales flitting about in the water. I walked towards the water and sank in to its cool blue depths. Immediately I realized how tense I was. I relaxed my shoulders and floated along the waves in blissful silence.

The relaxing calm and quiet though, didn't last. A loud noise, similar to that of a trumpet, reverberated along the beach disturbing my deep musing. I ignored the noise because whoever had blown the trumpet was authority, and most authorities were adults, adults who would question me, and ask how I had gotten on the plane for boys. I wasn't ready to face those questions yet. So I waited. Then a noise, different from the last, finally caused me to stir. This was the splish splash of young feet as they waded through water. I looked up and a broad smile broke across my face.

"Josh!" I hollered, and with my remaining energy began to swim towards shore. Relief flowed down my body, untying the knot that had been constricting my throat. Hearing his name called, he turned towards me with an expression of curiosity. His mulberry marked face was unmistakable. He too smiled with relief upon seeing me.

"Alliki, who blowed the horn?" he asked.

"I don't know." I called back, beginning to laugh at the sound of my old nickname and his sweet, grammatically incorrect voice.

His young, six year old face lit up as he said "Let's find out!"

By then, I had reached the shore so he grabbed my hand in his small one and began tugging me towards where the sound of another trumpet was coming from. I laughed, following him as he plodded down the beach

Eventually, the two of us reached a place where three boys were already standing. All three were naked, but after I came over my initial shock and revulsion I realized that it was only fitting that people wouldn't want to wear clothes under this blazing heat. I would just have to get used to it. As I looked them over my eyes first came to rest on one boy. He was extremely pudgy with unhealthy looking pink skin and glasses. I was instinctively repulsed by him, but I told myself to get over how he looked because in his eyes, I saw intelligence beyond what I had seen in boys at the school where I went. He was speaking to a boy, a little younger than Josh. Turning back, the boy shouted, "Ralph, this one's called Johnny"

I looked up behind the fat boy and saw a boy standing on the platform above the others. My mother had told me to take no notice of how boys looked, and that it never mattered in the end but all her words of wisdom vanished in to thin air when I saw him. He was very handsome. The boy was tall, with blond hair and a good figure. In his hands was the largest and most beautiful shell I had ever seen. He was blowing into it, creating the sound I had first mistook for a trumpet. The young boy Johnny was staring at him with an awed expression. He looked like one of the old worshipers from church as they stared at the wooden carving of Jesus Christ on his cross. That carving had always repulsed me, with the painted blood dripping down his wrists and feet.

"Wha's yer name?" A strange voice asked.

As I was staring and the blond boy – Ralph was it? –, the fat one had come and was addressing my brother. Before he could answer though, the fat boy looked at me and at first his face held a surprised expression. Then understanding seemed to dawn on him. The fat boy smiled and said, "It was very brave of you to follow your brother like that. It was my turn to be surprised. "How did you –" I asked.

"Saw how you was holdin' yer brother. An' that look in yer eyes. Yer willin' to risk everythin' to keep 'im safe.

Ralph chose that moment to look up, taking a break from blowing and saw me. His intense blue eyes met my green ones and I blushed. _Curse you cheeks_, I thought. How could looking at a guy have this sort of effect on me?

"You're a girl!" He exclaimed in a surprised tone. This slightly annoyed me. But only slightly. How could someone who looked like _that_ be bad?

"_Wow._ I am _so_ impressed with your _fantastic_ observation skills. _How_ could you have _possibly_ managed to figure that one out?" I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm. This sometimes worked for other girls at my school, for some reason guys liked girls who stood up to them. The little teenager in me hoped that this principle worked on the island as well. Sadly, Ralph ignored me.

"Piggy, that's a girl."

I was about to march up to him and tell him to stop acting all surprised, girls can get in situations too, until I noticed the mortified look on the fat boy – Piggy's? – face. He had turned a bright crimson color. He looked like he was about burst in to tears. He muttered in a tear stained, so softly I barely heard him, "I told ye not to call me Piggy."

My heart welled up with pity and sympathy for the boy not called Piggy and an intense anger at the one called Ralph. My opinion of Ralph immediately drastically reduced and I understood what my had meant when she told me not to judge a book my its cover. I looked him straight in the eyes (which no longer seemed as beautiful) and said in my most powerful tone, "How. Dare. You." My face and eyes must have looked very hard because even Ralph faltered under my glare.

"Um… What did _I_ do?" he asked.

My eyes not leaving his, I replied, "You told this boy you wouldn't call him Piggy. Am I right? I said am I right?" I was nearly yelling now. "You dare cause him the humiliation that he had been hoping to avoid, specifically after he asked you not to. See that you don't slip again."

"Erm… no. I- I mean of course not." Then, as an afterthought he added "ma'am."

I was stunned. My words had never had that effect on _anyone_. Especially anyone like Ralph. I looked around and realized that everyone who had come during my short tirade was staring at me silently. I then turned my face and looked down at Piggy, – no, not Piggy – the boy who was _not_ Piggy and saw that he was looking at me with an awed expression, almost reverently. I smiled at him kindly and asked in a soft voice, "What is your real name?"

"Charles. I'm Charles. Thanks fer standin' up to Ralph like tha'. I was ok. You didn't have to."

I looked at him and said "_Of course_ I did. And I'm Alicia."

Charles smiled gratefully again, then lumbered on to ask more names, for new boys had accumulated, drawn forward by the sound of the shell. Joshua and I went to sit next to Johnny, with more and more young ones gathering around me. They were asking me questions, about when we would be rescued. At first I wondered why they were all around me, then with a warm feeling in my heart, realized that being the only female, I was now unofficially the mother of all the little ones. I reassured them that we would be taken home to England soon and eventually they all settled down around me, some falling asleep. Soon I too was resting, leaning against a tree with many four to six year olds on my lap, propped up against my shoulders and chest. I felt a sharp gaze on me and opened my eyes to see Ralph looking at me in a way that was completely new to me. He respected me. I felt a trill of excitement and surprise, wanting to laugh out loud. A few hours on an island and already I was respected by someone who before wouldn't even except me before the crash.

After about ten minutes, I heard the sound of many footsteps and opened my eyes and beheld a large group of boys wearing strange clothes. They wore black caps and black cloaks. I wondered how they could possibly be wearing that much in the heat. As I looked closer, I could see clearly how exhausted they all were, swaying under the enduring sun. My eyes were instantly drawn to the boy in the front. It was not the clothes he wore, nor his thin frame, visible under the thick cloak, nor his piercing pale blue eyes, and not even his fiery red hair under his cap. It was the expression on his face and an aura of darkness that shone from him. My arms instinctively tightened around the children closest to me. Paying me no mind, the boy looked around, squinting through the glare of the sun. He then called out, "Where's the man with the trumpet?"

Ralph squinted into the sun as well trying to make out features of the boy's silhouette. "There is no man with a trumpet. Only me." The boy didn't seem to believe him.

"Isn't there a ship then," he asked "or a man here?"

"No," came Ralph's reply. "But we are having a meeting. Come join us." The invitation made all the exhausted boys to sit down in the shade wearily.

"Choir! Stand still!" This order caused the members of the choir stand up and return to their previous formation. Some the boys complained in barely audible mutters "Merridew, please…" I was horrified that he should force his charges to stand under the heat of the unyielding sun. As a leader, Merridew should be concerned about the choir's welfare. I would have stood up to argue, but something about his expression stopped me. I realized that he would sooner attack me than listen to me tell me how to use his dominance over the others.

Without warning, one of the choir boys fainted. The others rushed forward to help him onto one of the fallen logs in the shade. I was relieved. I hoped that this would help Merridew realize what he was making the boys under his command endure as he stood negotiating with Ralph in the protective shade of the trees. To my relief he looked annoyed and embarrassed and said "All right then. Sit down. Let him alone. He's always throwing a faint. He did in Gib.; and Addis; and at the matins over the precentor." None of these words meant anything to me but I felt a stab of pity for the boy. He was clearly not as strong as the others but I was angry that Merridew would force him to stand in the blaring sun, knowing perfectly well that he couldn't tolerate it. Merridew turned back to Ralph, who was obviously an authoritative figure. "Aren't there any grownups?"

"No."

"Then we'll have to look after ourselves." Merridew sat down and joined the circle of children.

"See, that's why Ralph made a meeting. To pick wha' to do. I heard names. There, tha's, Johnny, Joshua, them twins sittin' there are Sam 'n Eric." Charles had spoken up. I looked at him in surprise. He looked scared out of his wits but he was still talking. I smiled at him in encouragement. "That's Alicia," he finished.

Merridew burst out laughing. "Alicia? Alicia's a girl name."

I got really mad. Another Ralph. Another disbelieving, anti-women, idiotic, chauvinistic Ralph. No, this one is worse than Ralph. I spoke up. "Alicia is a girl name. I'm Alicia." Merridew looked at me in utter surprise and seemed at a loss for words. He looked between me, Ralph, and Charles. "How did… how… but…" He trailed off. He then shook his head as if to clear it and said, still looking at me, "Those are kid's names. I'm a man and a leader. Why should I be called Jack? My name's Merridew. Not Jack, Merridew." At the word _Jack_, he screwed up his nose in disgust. He then looked at me and smiled. It was different from any smile I had ever received before. It was cold and hungry, devoid of most emotion. Frightened, I looked away.

Without my notice, or anyone else's for that matter, Charles had continued speaking. "Then, that boy over there, he's –"

"Shut up Fatty!" Jack yelled. This earned a laugh from most boys sitting around the circle. In unison, Ralph and I exclaimed,

"His name's not Fatty! It's Piggy!"

"His name's not Fatty! It's Charles!"

I looked at Ralph murderously and everyone around me began to laugh. Some were clutching their stomachs and rolling around the platform, saying "Piggy, Oh, Piggy" in between chuckles and snorts. I looked over at Charles. His face was red and again, almost about to explode with tears. I marched purposefully up to Ralph and socked him. This was the first time I had ever considered hurting _anyone_ intentionally, let alone acting upon it. Just as my fist made contact with Ralph's face, a gasp rippled through the crowd. The world went silent at once as all the talking and laughing ceased to a halt at once.

"What –" Ralph spluttered, confused.

I narrowed my eyes to slits, "You know exactly _what_." I turned on my heel and began to walk to where the children were sitting. But, as I was returning to my original seat, I met the eyes of the boy in the choir who had fainted. I nearly passed out myself. His eyes were black, and looked like ceaseless voids, and I felt that all the answers to the world were hidden within those depths. That period of time during which I stared into them stretched into eternity. He looked away and the spell was broken. As Charles was finding the names of the rest of the choir members, I tried in vain to catch his eye again. When Charles finally reached that boy, he smiled weakly and revealed that his name was Simon. I felt my heart contract for no apparent reason. And I had this bizarre urge to run to him comfort him the way I was comforting the little ones. I resisted this urge for two reasons. One reason, the clearest, is that doing that would make me look silly and that may lose the respect that I had gained. The second is that doing so would force me to step onto or over the children, which I had no wish of doing.

Jack spoke up, breaking my reverie. "We've got to decide about being rescued." He seemed to be looking at me again. He smiled that disgusting, hungry smile that made my stomach churn. One of the young boys, Henry said softly, "I want to go home." Ralph and I spoke again in unison.

"Shut up."

"Oh, hush child, sleep, and all will be well when you wake up in the morn."

Ralph turned towards me with a guilty expression. I had a late reaction due to my surprise that the sound of my voice was much like that of my mother's. I proceeded to stare at Ralph, hostility in my eyes, as Henry began to snore softly into my shoulder. Turning his attention away from me, Ralph said "It seemed we need a chief to decide things." At the word 'chief' the ears of the children, including little Henry, perked up and began to voice their agreement. "A chief, a chief' I smiled then nodded. I would want a council, but to ears of boys, the word chief comes before the word council.

Jack smiled proudly and said, "_I _ought to be chief – I'm chapter chorister _and_ head boy. I can sing C sharp." I began to wish that he would stop looking at me. That sadistic smile never failed to make me nauseous.

I looked around at all the boys wondering which would make a good chief. My eyes jumped instantly to Simon, then silently chiding myself, I moved on. I knew that no one would vote for me as chief, as I was a girl. That thought slightly angered me, but there was nothing I could do to help it. I realized that Charles was possibly the smartest boy on the island and Jack was clearly a born leader. But, I could not bring myself to accept him as chief of the island. But, the way most of the children were looking at Ralph blew the former two out of the water.

One of the choir boys (Robert was it? No that's not right) spoke up, ignoring a glare from Jack. "Let's have a vote!" I grinned happily as I thought _I like this kid_. The vote went just as I had predicted. The entire choir, still obedient to their old leader voted for Jack. I did notice some of the boys hesitating. After Ralph won the election (everyone outside the choir members voted for him), he did something, I would never have expected of him. "Jack, you can continue to have leadership of your choir. They can be the army or –"

"They will be the hunters. Take off your togs." And so it was decided. Jack would be the leader of the hunters. I was surprised to see this goodness in Ralph. He truly cared about the dignity and self-esteem of Jack. The choir – hunters now – stood up and began to take off their long black capes and chatted amongst themselves.

With a wave of the conch though, everyone fell silent and Ralph commenced to speak. "Listen everybody. I've got to have time to think things out. If this isn't an island then we'll get home right away. But, if it is, it may take a while. I'm taking two people on an expedition to the top of that mountain, so we can look around and see. Now, I'm taking Jack, and… I'm taking… uh…" Jack grinned and decided to make an offer. "I'm going. We can also take Alicia. She could prove useful. 'Sides, she's a girl, might know stuff we don't." I was absolutely repulsed at the idea of going anywhere with Jack, even if we weren't alone. All the excuses I could think of were either mean or lame. "I can't go." I eventually said. Jack's smile disintegrated and suspicion colored his tone.

"How come?"

"Well, you see, I er…"

"Well?" His eyes were now narrowed.

I looked around, floundering. A my eyes came to rest upon the children, I knew what to say. "Just like you said. I'm a girl, the _only_ girl here for that matter. I ought to stay with the youngest children, like a sort of substitute mother, until we get rescued. They might need one." Jack knew what he was defeated. As his face showed it I let out a quiet sigh of relief. Ralph looked around and chose the third person for the trip. "Simon." Jack raised his eyebrows. Now that his skin was no longer white from the faint, he looked rather handsome, with straight black hair that hid his eyes, those eyes. When Ralph said his name, the boys sitting near him giggled and as Simon was standing up, he grinned as well. "I'll go." He joined Jack and Ralph on the platform. "Me too," a new voice proclaimed. Charles looked over at Ralph and repeated himself. "I wanna go too." Ralph looked at him. "You're no good for a job like this." Then with a glance at me and a considerably large effort to be nice added, "'Sides, Alicia will need your help taking care of the kids. It's impossible to look after that many people at the same time alone." "All the same –" "We don't want you," Jack interrupted. "Come on." With that, the three jumped off the platform and began to walk away. Ralph stopped suddenly, and turned around. "Look, you can't come." But with another glimpse of my angry face he added, "Uh… sorry." Charles didn't reply. With an awkward expression Ralph turned to leave.

"You told 'em. After what me and Alicia said. You jus' wen' ahead 'an told 'em anyway." I could see him coming closer and closer to tears. Ralph didn't know what to say. He looked at me for guidance. I just glared at him and mouthed, _You're the chief. Why do you need help?_ He looked back at Charles, confused then shot me a least pleading glance. I glared at him harder than I had ever glared at anyone and mouthed the word _Piggy_. After a second of incomprehension, understanding dawned on his face. I watched as he faltered, then said "Better Piggy than Fatty. Now, uh, finish taking names. And, uh, so long." I watched as he turned then ran to catch up with the other two. I watched Charles stare at the three boys receding into the distance. I watched a single tear drop run down his plump cheek, and I finally moved. I put my hand on his shoulder and led him back to the platform. For the next few hours, we worked together, helping the children reach fruit, and other little things. Our friendship grew and bonded us together like brother and sister. Despite this newfound friendship, Charles remained closed up and unusually quiet for most of the day.


	2. A Mournful Cry (Fire on the Mountain)

_As I lay in the tangle of leaves that made up my bed, something was bothering me. Earlier that night, I had told the children a story and tucked them in under the leaves. It had seemed quite peaceful but there was something in the air that didn't allow me to rest easy. I had woken up eight times so far and I could tell that very few hours had passed because the moon had yet to show itself. I began to hear the sound of sobbing. It was a sound so familiar, it tore my heart out. I got up and softly padded over to where my little brother was crying. "Joshy, what's wrong?" He sniffled and looked up at me through his little bloodshot eyes. "I saw… I saw a… in the jungle there was… it was horrible!" With that, my little brother burst into tears._

I was sitting at the second meeting the island had seen. Everyone had gathered around Ralph, Jack, and Simon, who had gone on an expedition the day before. Ralph raised the conch and cleared his throat. "Me and Jack and Simon have been to the top of the mountain. I, well we, know that this is an island. We are the only people here. But we have hunters to get us food," at that statement Jack bowed and waved his hand to the choir, "and there are pigs on this island. We can hunt 'em. For food. We almost caught one yesterday even, but it ran away."

"It was squealing," Jack added. "I couldn't get it but next time, next time for sure." He stabbed at a tree with his dagger, mad fire glowing in his eyes. I shuddered. "I was just finding the right spot," he muttered so quietly I barely heard it from three feet away. Some of the children began to whisper among themselves.

Ralph lifted his shell and everyone fell silent. "There are no grownups here and we need an organized way so we could talk without any chaos. It'll be kinda like school. We'll raise our hands and I'll give the conch to someone."

"What's a conch?"

"This shell is a conch. So anyway I'll give someone the conch and they'll have permission to speak without anybody interrupting them. 'Cept me of course, 'cause I'm chief."

Jack jumped up. "We'll have rules, lots and lots of rules. And if you break them…" then he and the other boys made an assortment of strange noises they seemed to understand but left me dumbfounded. Charles gently took the conch from Ralph's lap.

"Ralph still 'asn't go'en to the mos' imporan' thing. _No one knows we're here_. 'Ow can they come 'n rescue us if they don' know where we are? We'll pro'ly be 'ere for a _really_ long time or even ever! We're trapped! Stuck!" For a moment Ralph looked uncertain and then managed, "But this is a good island! We have food and drink!"

"Rocks!" "Flowers!" Jack and Simon chorused. When Charles pointed to the conch in Ralph's hand, the two became quiet. Meanwhile, Ralph was still speaking. "While we're waiting, we could have fun! It's like we're in a book!" The boys began to exclaim names of books. "Treasure Island! Swallows and Amazons! Coral Island!" I smiled and added a few of my own. Ralph waved the conch. "The thing is our island is a good island. And until the adults come to fetch us we'll have fun!"

I felt a gentle tugging on my sleeve. I looked to see my little brother looking at me with wide frightened eyes. He leaned over and whispered something in my ear. I smiled proudly at him and nodded encouragingly. "Go on."

"Can you do fowr me please?" Even at six, his late teeth made his voice sound younger.

"I think you should by yourself."

"What if dey laugh at me?"

"They won't. I promise."

"Ok…" his face still contained the fear and doubt.

"Now go and tell them what you saw last night." I pushed him forward a little. He bravely raised his hand. Ralph looked over at him. He began to laugh. I didn't know why. Perhaps it was because he looked silly and childish. All the others looked in the same direction as Ralph and upon seeing the little six year old waiting for the conch, they began to laugh as well. Joshua began to cry, which only caused them to laugh harder. I stood up, silencing everyone. "How dare you laugh at the boy? Can't you see he's nervous enough? Excuse me, but we are British. You are supposed to be gentlemen. But here you are, acting like those bloody Americans. Now give the boy the conch." All the boys stared at me and I could feel a blush creeping up my cheeks. For as long as I could remember, I had never used that sort of language and all the boys seemed as surprised as I was at my word choice. Ralph cautiously handed the conch to Joshua, but as he did so he looked like he was scared that I might attack him at any moment. Most likely if he hurt Josh's feelings anymore, I would. But it was too late, the damage was done. Josh was cowering under a tree, curled into a tight ball with tears streaming down his face. Glaring at Ralph, I snatched the conch from his hands.

"Josh wanted to say that he saw something. Something dark. In the forest, last night. A beastie, he called it." The crowd began to murmur but I raised the conch in my hand and continued speaking. "He said that it will come back. Tonight."

One of the older choir boys snorted in disbelief. "Yeah. Where is the supposed beast now? I suppose it just simply _vanished_ into thin air."

"No," I replied. "My brother says it's hiding. With the creepers. It's like a snake see, so it camouflages with the creepers." That statement brought on four different reactions. The first, which came from half the little ones, was to nod with agreement at the statement. The second, which came from the other half of the little ones and Charles, was to look back into the forest and scan the creepers, looking for one that was different from the other. When the wind blew and made the creepers move a little those jumped in surprise and fear. The third was from all the older boys but two. One was Charles and the other was Simon. Laughter rang around the platform as they guffawed some saying words like "in the creepers" and "beastie" in between bouts of uncontrollable giggles. Simon was the only boy to have the fourth reaction. He looked thoughtful and confused. I could almost see the gears turning in his head and longed to ask him what he was thinking about. I glared at all the laughers and they instantly became quiet.

Ralph looked overt to where Josh and I were sitting. I put a protective hand on Josh's shoulder and handed the conch to him. When Ralph spoke, he was addressing Joshua. "Look. We don't get big things like that on islands this small. Only in the big places like Africa. You just had a nightmare." Josh grudgingly returned the conch. I could see in his eyes that he didn't believe Ralph, but due to the nods of agreement coming from the other boys, Josh assented.

Jack snatched the conch away from Ralph and said, "There is no snake. But even if there is we'll hunt it and kill it. Like a pig. We'll hunt it see. So you shouldn't be too worried 'cause there is no snake but if there even was a sna—"

"But there isn't! THERE IS NO BEAST!" Everyone stared at Ralph. He looked around, an embarrassed blush coloring his cheeks. He was clearly embarrassed about his outburst. "See. There is no beastie. You shouldn't be afraid." He shook his head as if to clear it. "Well, I've been thinking. We want to have fun. And we want to be rescued. Don't we?" The boys began to cheer. Ralph seemed to lose his train of thought. He cleared his throat and tried again. "We want to have fun. And we want to be rescued. And my father's in the navy. He says the Queen has a room full of maps of every single island that's in the world. Sooner or later, they will find out which island we're on and they'll come and rescue us.

Again, the crowd burst into applause. I looked around, studying the faces of others. Most of the boys had an expression of admiration on their faces. The strongest of those was Charles. He was looking at Ralph with eyes full of such worship, it was as if Ralph were God. Jack was clapping too, but with a smirk on his face. He seemed annoyed, and as I searched his face, even a little jealous.

"And another thing," Ralph continued. "If they do come by, there is no full chance that they'll see us. So just in case we need a way to draw their attention here. We'll need to make smoke up there, on the mountain. We'll need to make a fire."

With many exclamations of the word 'fire,' my little ones got up and rushed into the forest following Jack. I almost did myself but then realized I would look very childish running after them like that. I turned to Ralph to ask my permission to leave. He was trying to make the crowd settle down and sit back on the platform. His attempts were clearly futile. I smiled at him pityingly. "Ah kids. I'll just go and make sure no one hurts themselves." With that, I dashed off into the woods after the children, leaving Charles and Ralph alone on the platform.

I was sitting on a different platform. This one was at the top of the mountain. I looked around. The view was stunning. The trees of the island were a lush green, which contrasted well against the pink rocks of the cliff. Near the center of the mountain was a huge patch of lovely little blue flowers. From atop the mountain, the coral reef I had seen before was a splash of color that painted the left shore of the island. And, as far as the eye could see, the ocean spread out, peacock blue, glittering with the light from the golden sun. The only blemish on the island was a gloomy looking patch of trees. They were all dead, knocked down by the blistering heat that sometimes took over the island. But that section could be quite easily overlooked. The world was so beautiful that, at the moment, I felt content with where and who I was. I didn't want to do anything but float in the water, enjoying its warmth on my face and the cool water lapping against my skin. Unfortunately, I had to listen to Ralph giving orders about the fire.

"We can get as much wood as we want from down there," Ralph said, pointing towards the graveyard of trees. All that decay made me feel a little queasy but I pushed it down and forced myself to look at where Ralph was pointing.

"Hunters, this way!" Jack directed. He and his hunters began to make their way down the crater of the mountain towards the trees. For a while, Ralph and the hunters struggled to find a good trunk. Most of them fell apart upon contact. Finally the twins, Sam and Eric found a sturdier log. The hunters managed to drag it part of the way, but a long time passed before Ralph found a way to bring the log up from the crater. Eventually though, the pile began to grow.

I looked at the children and said, "Why don't you go down and help the big boys build their pile?" To my great surprise, most of them nodded at me solemnly and ran around finding sticks and twigs to contribute to our bonfire. Once I was sure that they were hard at work, I joined the older boys, helping them hull large pieces of wood to the pile. Soon, the heap was complete. Everyone stood around it, marveling at the hard work that they had put in to build it. The little ones that had helped looked up at me with glistening eyes, searching for praise and approval. I smiled sweetly at them and thanked them for their help. With their large eyes filled with pride, they skipped away to find fruit.

A smile spreading across my face, I looked up at the large pile of sticks then down at the two boys standing awkwardly under it. Jack and Ralph looked at each other sheepishly. My newborn smile faded. What was the matter? They let out self-conscious chuckles and Ralph cleared his throat. "Would you… uh… Jack… why don't you… er… you know… light, the… uh… light the… fire?"

My mouth fell open and I felt like banging my head against a nearby tree. How could they be so stupid? How could they not think ahead like that? Did we do all this work for nothing? I realized one reason I was so mad. The fault was partially mine. I had also not thought ahead. Ugh. I knew there was a solution to almost every problem. I cast my gaze around, thinking hard.

"Does anyone have any, um, matches?" Ralph asked hopefully. I had reached the pinnacle of my exasperation. _All the matches are in the cargo hold, dummy, which is quite incidentally destroyed,_ I thought to myself. _Who carries around freaking matches?_ I almost gasped out loud. I had never used language like that, not even in my own head. Especially _twice _in one day. First bloody Americans and now this? I was a little worried now. Are all these boys having some strange effect on me? Feeling sick I tried to remember what people used in my beloved books to start a fire. I looked over the hill, hearing branches cracking. Over the ridge came something huge, panting… Charles. I sighed in relief. The little ones too were having an effect on me. _If this goes on, I'll be scared of my own shadow_. Charles stopped near us. "Nice pile." He said.

Ralph looked up at the same time as Jack. Their eyes instantly lit up together. "Piggy… erm… Charles, might you have any ma—Jack what are you doing?"

Jack had jumped up, elation in his face. "We'll use Piggy's specs to start a fire. Like a burning glass!" Charles was immediately surrounded by boys attempting to steal his glasses. I pushed through them and reached Charles. "Charles? Would you mind if I borrowed your specs for a moment?" With a grin, he handed them to me saying, "Of course Madam Mornington." I stalked up to the soon-to-be-fire and tilted the glasses at an angle so that a ray of sun hit them and a beautiful tendril of smoke curled up into the air. Ralph and Jack blew tenderly on the wood, spreading embers, until a beautiful little flame appeared and grew, growing into a fire. I smiled and handed Charles's glasses back to him, thanking him in the process. I grinned at him then looked back at the fire and gasped. In that short period of time it had grown, grown to over fifteen meters tall and was consuming wood faster than anyone could have expected.

I looked to Ralph, our leader, but instead of fear, his eyes were full of an insane awe. "Ralph! What do we do?" I shouted breaking him out of his reverie. Still dazed, he muttered, "Get more wood." and returned his gaze to the glorious sight that stretched out before him. I knew I would be forced to take matters into my own hands. "Everyone! Listen up! We need wood! Lots of it! Get on it, or the fire will burn through everything." I helped alongside the others but time dragged on and we all became weary. Soon everyone was laying in the shade, enjoying the evening breeze. I had nearly fallen asleep when Charles spoke up.

"This fire wasn't any good."

"Why not?" Ralph looked up, perplexed.

"There wa'n't no smoke. An' we pu' mos' o' our wood in it an' we can't even keep a fire like tha' goin' even if we tried."

"Fat lot you tried," Jack said with a sneer.

"He did help. He gave Alicia his specs and let us use them," Simon piped up. I looked at him curiously. We hadn't formally met, yet he knew my name. _Well you _do_ know his_. I reminded myself. _But that's only because Charles was saying their names out loud and not mine. _I knew it was a lame argument but it was the best I had.

"I go' the conch! Le' me talk!" Charles exclaimed.

"The conch doesn't work up here on the mountain. So shut your fat mouth," Jack said. Charles looked at me pleadingly but I shook my head regretfully. I wouldn't stand up to Jack, _couldn't_ stand up to him. He still scared me quite a bit. Looking hurt, Charles returned the conch to Ralph and sat down next to me. I patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. Ralph began speaking.

"We need to have people to look after the fire. A ship might come by any day. We gotta always be prepared, we gotta always have a signal. And another thing. We need rules. Beginning with the conch. Where the conch is, a meeting is. Here and there." Charles made as if to reach for the conch, but one glance at Jack, he wilted and sank back down beside me. Meanwhile, Jack himself had taken the conch from Ralph.

"That's right! We need more rules! Lots more! And we get punished if we don't obey them. We get punished real good. After all, like Alicia pointed out earlier, we are Engilshmen and the English are best at everything. Not like them _bloody_ Americans," He was mimicking me but I didn't stand up to him. I could see he wasn't worth that. I was beginning to see him as less a threat after I had seen Roger lifting up a lizard by its tail and tossing it into the flame, only looking slightly intrigued as a miniature explosion spewed the poor thing's blood everywhere. I could tell that even though Roger had been the one to suggest the voting, he had a dark side to him, something that scared me more that Jack had before. He seemed to be more excited about the punishments than the rules themselves. Not getting the reaction he had wanted from me, he turned to Ralph. "I'll split up my hunters. They'll take turns watching the fire and the horizon. That way, if they see a ship, they'll just put lots of green sticks on it to make more smoke. Altos will be the fire watchers this week, Trebles the next. We'll let the fire out now, 'cause no one can see smoke in the dark anyway."

All the boys began to applaud Jack's generosity. I myself would probably have clapped if he hadn't mimicked me before. I knew I was being a sissy but I had pride and I wasn't going to let go just like that. Jack had to _apologize._ Roger, the boy who had exploded a lizard spoke up. I looked over at him and saw he was poking at something in the ground with a stick. No doubt another animal he was about to murder for his own entertainment. He looked up, cursing as whatever it was escaped. "I've _been_ watching the horizon. And I haven't seen a trace of a ship. Perhaps we'll never get rescued." The way he said it made me think that he didn't mind that. That he didn't want to be rescued.

Ralph snatched the conch away. "We _will _get rescued! We just have to wait that's all!"

Charles indignantly took the conch from Ralph. "Tha's wha' I been sayin' 'bout meetings an' things an' all you been sayin' is shut up. An' you said you wanted a small pile an' you wen' an' built a hayrick! An' every time I talk all you ever say is shut up. Bu' if anyone else, Jack, or Maurice, or Simon, or even Alicia an' she's a girl, you… you…"

The part about the fact that being a girl made a difference stung a little, but Charles's argument was quite clear. I am a girl. And back before we got on this island, none of the boys would care what I had to say for that reason. And the fact that I am short for my age, but that's beside the point. All of a sudden, Charles began to laugh. It was a horrible mad, feverish, hysteric laugh. Clutching his stomach with one hand, he pointed with the other. All eyes turned in the direction Charles was pointing. _THE FIRE!_ It had grown immensely while we had not been looking and consumed most of the dead trees we had for future fires. Soon, half the island was on fire. Charles let out another sharp laugh. "You got your small fire alright."

Ralph stared dumbfounded at the inferno. He turned back to Charles, but in his daze, the only words he could put together were 'Shut' and 'up.' My eyes blazing in anger, I stood up, ready to give Ralph the treatment he deserved. All of a sudden, a harsh wave of heat knocked me back down onto the ground. I wanted to tell my children to be careful near it. As I began to go through them a sudden, horrible realization hit me. I frantically cast my gaze around murmuring. "No, no, no, no, no…"

The next few moments flew by in a blur. _No no no no nono nono nononono… _Jack had just called Charles 'Fatty' again._ No no no no nono nono nononono…_ Charles was having a rant on priorities. _No no no no nono nono nononono! _Charles was going on a tirade about the little ones. _No no no no nono nono nonono!_ Sweat was rolling in large beads down my face. My heart was empty as a cloudless sky. _No NO NO NO NO, _"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed. Everyone started at the noise and turned towards me. I knew why. This wasn't any cry. A sound like this could only be heard when a loved one is lost. With the feeling of many eyes on my back, I turned and rushed into the forest, where I collapsed, sobbing.

**A/N**

**Sorry this took so long, didn't have time over winter break and stuff was going on.**

**Thanks Goneismyfave1 for thanking me about a dozen times and being my first review. And since you dedicated a chapter to me, here's one for you.**

**Tada**


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